Mysteries have captivated people around the World for decades, resulting in several conspiracies as to what could have happened in these seemingly impossible scenarios. The story of Charles Carroll Taylor, an experienced and trusted military pilot during World War II, and his disappearance in the Bermuda Triangle is no different. So how does a pilot with over 2000 hours of flight time, the leader of a small fleet of other planes, and one of the best pilots of his era just vanish without explanation? Several theories have been made to try and rationalize this inexplicable event. Let’s further examine these theories to better understand what could have happened.
Character Analysis
Born on October 25, 1917, in Nueces County Texas, Charles Carroll Taylor was never the particularly brilliant child. He never really excelled in many areas such as school or had much of a work ethic during his childhood and was often seen by others as a slacker. Some believe he was like this due to his father deserting him and his mother from a young age, leaving him to rely on just his mother for support. (1)
As he grew older, Charles decided to enlist in the military in hopes of becoming a pilot and assisting with the war efforts during World War II. He began his journey by first completing NAS school in Corpus Christi, where he would soon become a flight instructor just 6 months after graduation (1). Throughout his time in the military, Charles would log well over 2,000 flight hours and would end up being the commander of flight 19.
Although Charles had logged so many hours, he never strayed very far from his child-like behavior as he would often be regarded as others as a careless pilot and should not be entrusted with the lives of others. This statement did not come without proper reasoning as multiple times Charles had to abandon his plane in the ocean and wait on a life raft after being lost in the air and await his rescue. Some also speculate that Charles did not bring some necessary navigational tools on his trips such as a watch or a plotting instrument (1). These careless mistakes more than likely contributed to the eventual loss of flight 19.
Fourteen airmen went missing during flight 19 including the pilots. Those pilots were Edward Powers, Forrest Gerber, Joseph Bossi, and George Stivers (2). These pilots were relatively inexperienced and younger in comparison to Charles Taylor as they combined had logged roughly 300 hours throughout their brief careers, and averaged in age roughly in their mid-20’s. This left speculating as to why Charles was entrusted with such an inexperienced crew as he was not exactly a very trustworthy pilot.
So, what happens when you mix a clumsy, forgetful pilot, four young, inexperienced pilots, and all of this in the Bermuda Triangle? Planes begin to go missing without a trace and conspiracy theories begin to form trying to explain the inexplicable.
Conspiracy Theories
Since the disappearance of Charles and his crew, countless theories have been made to try and make sense of this anomaly. Some range from aliens abducting the fleet to more logical and scientifically based explanations. With all these possible explanations, three of them have become the main discussion points to try and explain this event.
The first conspiracy, and the most logical, was that the planes got lost at sea and eventually ran out of gas and were forced to ditch their vessels and survive in the sea where they would eventually be overcome by the elements and meet their eventual demise. There is evidence backing up that the fleet was lost in the form of a radio transmission coming from Charles Taylor himself. As night began to fall a transmission was received stating, “Both my compasses are out and I am trying to find Ft. Lauderdale, Florida” (3). What doesn’t add up with this theory is that no evidence of a crash was ever found, such as debris or floating pieces of the planes. The day after the crash a massive search party was sent to try and find what happened to the crew, but nothing was ever found. Even with this being the most logical of the theories made, there is not enough conclusive evidence as there was never any debris or signs of a crash found after the radio transmission, making this theory non-conclusive.
The next theory may seem quite outlandish but is quite popular amongst some. This theory is that the fleet was abducted by aliens. This became a popular explanation when Steven Spielberg created a movie about Flight 19’s disappearance in which they were abducted by alien spaceships. There was also a point in the radio transmission from Charles Taylor where he seems disoriented and was quoted saying something along the lines of “They’re flying above us, I’m not quite sure what they are” (4). This could be a possible explanation as to why there was never any debris found or any evidence of a possible crash, but there is also no conclusive evidence of there being aliens. Furthermore, many people dismissed the radio transmission as it was clear that Charles Taylor was becoming delusional and was not in a sound state of mind, making this theory highly unlikely.
The third and final theory is that the electronics in the plane failed due to large amounts of methane gas put out from deposits beneath the ocean floor. This theory is seemingly the most realistic and somewhat fits in with the first theory as it could explain why Charles was so disoriented. The use of methane gas could also explain why the rescue team never found any remnants of the crash as “…giant bubbles of methane might sink ships when they reach the surface.” (5). The discovery of these gasses was found recently, and it does not have a conclusive amount of research to back it up quite yet. However, it does provide a good explanation for the seemingly delusional portrayal of Charles Taylor during his transmissions as well as the lack of debris after the crash, making this theory the most conclusive and supported of the three.
Conclusion
Over 60 years since the mysterious disappearance of Charles Carroll Taylor and his crew there has still yet to be a conclusive explanation as to what happened that day. Still, people are researching and trying their hardest to explain the seemingly inexplicable.
Over half a century as passed since the mysterious disappearance of Flight 19 and through the countless of attempted explanations, three have seemingly stuck out from the rest.
1. The crew ran out of gas and was overwhelmed by the harsh elements.
2. A more inexplicable supernatural force abducted the crew.
3. Large deposits of methane gas seeped up through the ocean floor causing the planes electronics to fail.
So, which of these could it be? Could it be something completely different from these popular theories? The disappearance of Flight 19 remains one of Americas greatest mysteries and looks to be another disastrous event fallen victim to the Bermuda Triangle.
Works Cited
McElhiney, Allan. “Flight 19 the Lost Avengers.” Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, https://www.nasflmuseum.com/flight-19.html.
McElhiney, Allan. “Taylor.” Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, https://www.nasflmuseum.com/taylor.html.
Andrews, Evan. “The Mysterious Disappearance of Flight 19.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Dec. 2015, https://www.history.com/news/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-flight-19.
Admin. “What Happened to Flight 19?” Bermuda Attractions, https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2_0000e4.htm.
“Do Giant Gas Bubbles Explain the Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Mar. 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2016/mar/14/giant-gas-bubbles-mystery-bermuda-triangle.